Should you drink after playing sports?

Dr Christopher Stevens, a sports science expert at Southern Cross University, Australia, said that after exercising, you will feel tired, sweat and have temporary muscle soreness. Exercising in hot and humid weather, the body loses more water through sweating, reducing blood volume and causing temporary electrolyte imbalance.

The body will quickly repair the damage and heal itself. Hormones in the body, especially the male hormone testosterone, play an important role in fast and effective recovery. For healthy young men, it may only take a few hours to feel as good as before.

“However, drinking alcohol after exercise slows down the recovery of muscle damage by inhibiting the activity of hormones that support this process,” says Dr. Stevens.

Drinking alcohol after exercise hinders the body's recovery process. Photo: Heathline

If your injury is not a minor traumatic injury but a soft tissue injury, the situation will be worse. Alcohol causes blood vessels to dilate, causing local swelling and preventing the body from healing itself. Alcohol is also a diuretic. The more you drink, the more dehydrated you become, and combined with dehydration from exercise, you will quickly collapse.

Dr. Stevens warns that unrecovered injuries, loss of energy, dehydration... make you feel more tired the more you exercise. Your training efforts will be counterproductive.

Drinking alcohol after exercise also negatively affects sleep. Lack of sleep will reduce muscle strength in the next exercise session. Therefore, after exercise, you should eat a full meal.